Just in time for Just Us Girls 425

Hey there....can you hear me huffin? I am just under the wire to get this card in for the Photo Inspiration at Just Us Girls. 

 

I was inspired by that yellow couch, the striped black and white rug and the yellow blooms in the background.  Anytime I can put yellow and flowers into a card I am gonna do it.

I have to say of all the Altenew stamps and other multi step stamps I have this set called flower arrangement was so easy to layer.  I shocked myself - that it took me only two tries to find the sweet-spot on the large bloom. You all will definitely be seeing more of these beauties.

Have a great evening.

A lil note

of Thanks...it is the season of thank you notes.  I made up a set of 4 designs which I repeated that were quickly put together so that I could begin my thank you notes.  Today I hope to get them popped into the mail as we are expecting a light dusting of snow tomorrow...I'll just want to sit by the window and craft while looking out; so the errands must be done today.

I bought some $1 packes of notecards and envelopes at a big box craft store...and those note cards were really just a single cut of cardstock. No fold.  There were however 20 excellent envelopes.  I used the flats to die cut some speach bubbles, grabbed my gold foil 6x6 papers in my scrap stash along with some sheets of Kraft cardstock.   These are small note cards 3.5 by 4.25 inches.

A little difficult to photograph (sorry its so dark), but you get the idea.  Sentiments come from Stampin Up.

Thanks for stopping by!  Do you have all your thank yous done?

Thank you

Some watercoloring, some vellum, some stickles, an embossed sentiment and some layers. I had fun with this card. Sent off to a blogging friend that surprised me with some stamps. Thank you so much!

Thanks for stopping by.

Thanks

Over last weekend I found out I was one of the lucky randomly drawn winners of a blog hop.  The prize I won was donated by Darnell, and I wanted to send her a thank you for donating the prize which ended up in my happy hands.

I spent most of last weekend playing with Clearly Besotted's Giving Thanks stamp set, and I loved the sunflower option.

I started with the wheelbarrow, added the flowers and masked that all off. I used the Hero Arts Large Lotus stencil with some scattered straw distress ink across the whole panel in a light to dark inking. The image was colored with copic makers.  The sentiment was stamped with versfine vintage sepia ink.  The card base is from Stampin up and the sequins are from A Muse -- each of the 4 mm sequins packets is a mix of light medium and dark shades of the color chosen.  I liked that that matched my inking.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Thanks to a wonderful Muse

Vicki Dutcher is stepping down from her Muse DT position, and I just had to say thanks for all the wonderful inspiration she had provided over the last year plus. I enjoy her designs, she'll be missed as a Muse, but I can still follow her blog here. So for Muse Challenge # 120 here is Vicki's card:

I was inspired by her layout, colors and what appears to be a smaller card size.  I have created a 4bar sized card.  There is still time to play, click either the challenge photo or the link above to be taken to the challenge page.

ETA: I am also entering this in the Pretty Pink Posh Watercolor Blog Hop going on this weekend. Thanks Ardyth for reminding me.

 

Supplies: Derwent Inktense Pencils, Canson Water color paper, Hero Arts Gold EP, SSS Artful Flowers Stamp, SSS Hand Lettered Winter Wishes Stamp set, WRMK Corner Chomper, Black Liquid Pearls.

Thanks for stopping by!

Unexpected

I received a Valentine from my blogging friend Greta, and she so generously included a stamp set that was a duplicate of one she had.  Its a schmoozy set, and hubs will be the recipient of quite a few cards from this set on my next trip out to California - Thanks Greta for the new stamps.

I thanked Greta but also wanted to send a card...isn't that what we card-makers do?

I was trying to channel Shari Carroll and her wonderful collage style.

I love these browns, tans and coral pinks together.  My card base is from A Muse Studios and I cut three tags usind Pretty Pink Poshes stitched duo tag - onc from patterned paper I won from Michele, one from kraft, and one from vellum embossed with one of the Lifestyle crafts Wishing set.  The die cuts Sending and Thanks are from Simon Says Stamp and were cut from some orangy on orange polka dot scraps.  I used a mocha shade of embroidery thread to tie the tage together and added a thing bit of coral colored chevron ribbon I picked up in California last fall - I am not sure who the manufacturer is (boo).

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Scrambling and a couple of challenges

Today's Hero Arts Scramble was hosted by Barb, and her theme was white on white. A neutral/mettalic was allowed for the sentiment.  I love the look of white on white...but wow was it difficult to get  a good photograph.

I used Hero Arts Stamps - Butterflies for the main image, Sat it all for the sentiment- and heat embossed them with white powder on vellum. I dry embossed the card base with a Cuttlebug embossing folder Victoria.  To the panel with the embossed vellum pieces I added some pearls, and ribbon and then took 8 photos before I was okay with the picture.  I am submitting this one to A2Z's February Challenge - Embossing.

Since I still had this stamp out, I wanted to try it for CAS-ology's cue card Monochrome. These clean and simple cards are so hard for me.

 I started with some Dove Grey cardstock by WPlus9, and inked up the dogwoods from the butterflies set with Versafine Smokey Grey, I also stamped and embossed the set's smallest butterfly in smokey grey on vellum, then heat embossed with clear powder.  I kinda like the very delicate look that gives the butterfly.  The same thanks from Say it all was added.  It is difficult to see but there are 5 embossed lines under the sentiment for a touch of texture along with an outline debossing around the main image.

 My last card is the third of three that I need for a swap in early March. I used the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches for inspiration. 

My first task was to mask off that diagonal stripe area, I added Tiny Leaves with embossing paste colored with lime green glimmer mist over the Gormet Rubber Stamps stencil. I added some Distress Glitter in White Rock Candy over the stenciled leaves.

While that dried, I stamped and colored with Copic's my main image from Newton's Nook Basket of Wishes stamp set.  I put together several words from that set, and Newton's Nook set Simply Sentimental to get my sentiment. I die cut my main image circle using MFT's stitched circles. 

I wanted to tie in the yellow just a bit more so I added a bit of yellow ric rac over the embossing paste leaves,  The panel when complete was mounted on some Certainly Celery Stampin Up cardstock. I added just a bit of clear Wink of stella to the bow and the eggs, and then covered that with glossy accents.

Big thanks

Today I have spent time packaging up stamps from my collection that I am selling. I haven't used them in quite a while and I am running out of storage space.  So hard as it is for me to let go, the time has come to thin out my collection.  I am also working on a project for hubs. When complete I will have use of all the space in my craft room/office/dressing room. Then I get to redecorate and make this room more functional for me.

So back to the sold stamps, I am including a little thank you note inside each package.  I am getting a lot of use out of the Casual Fridays stamp set Big Thanks that I bought used about a year ago. I also got out my We are Memory Keepers envelope punch board and made some cute little envelopes for my cards.

The size I wanted was not included on the punch board, but a bit of trial and error with printer paper was all it took to figure it out.  I will share those dimensions below.

Here are my cards to tuck in with the purchased stamps. I hope they bring a little smile to the recipients.

I have some medium weight small patterned papers that I got free with one of those British card making mags to make my little envelopes.  They end up measuring around 2.25 inches square. My little cards are 2 inches square.

I cut 2 inch strips from cardstock along the 8.5 inch side (5 strips make 10 cards), then trimmed the strips to 2 by 4 inches. I scored them to be top folding.  Next I stamped them with Versamark ink and added a coordinating embossing powder to match the envelope.  I made 8 of them with envelopes in about 20 minutes. In the photo each card is sitting on its respective envelope.

Envelope dimensions - cut a 4x4 inch square and score the first line at 2 inches.  If you want a slightly bigger envelope, a 4.5 by 4.5 inch square scored at 2-1/8th inches will give you an envelope to fit a 2.5 by 2.5 card.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sending Thanks

It's the time of year for thank you cards.  I haven't played with my watercolors lately, and I wanted to make something for the Virginia's View Challenge #11.

The theme this month is clean slate...I won't lie...white space makes me itch.  So these cards are particularly tough for me.  But I decided to tackle it anyway.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Die - Simon Says Stamp Thanks
Stamps - Simon Says Stamp Sending and Wishing
Watercolors - Koi
Ink - Versa Fine Majestic Blue
Paper - DCWV
Dots - MME

Thinking of you thanks

The colors in the Simon Says Stamp January card kit, seem so made for masculine cards to me. Maybe it is just the wintery darkness of the patterned papers. I love them and am  having a good time playing with them. My next card, is also a thank you card -- for my Dad.  I am always thinking about him too, so it is a two-fer card with a surprise in side...sincere thanks for a wonderful holiday.

A very simple card to make, but I need simple since I haven't done much card making since mid December.

The sentiment is stamped in white pigment ink, and then heat embossed with white powder. I added 5 more snowflakes to the front with white stamping and embossing.  I needed just a bit more, so I pulled out new but forgotten and never used  wood snowflake pieces.

Once the front panel was done I mounted it to the white card base, added a strip of the same paper inside, stamped thank you so much inside and called it a day.

My Dad will love the card.  During my visit I noticed he has my recent cards all hanging on the refrigerator doors. He made a point of telling me he had gotten additional magnet clips...I think he was hinting for more cards!

I am entering this card to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Something New .
The card kit is new to me, and this is the first time I have stamped and embossed on to patterned paper.

Thanks so much for taking the time to come by.

Supplies:
Cardstock - Neenah Aspen White 110 lb
Patterned Paper - Bo Bunny Altitude 6x6 pad
Ink- Simon Says Stamp white pigment ink, Versafine smokey grey (interior sentiment)
Wood Veneer - Lawn Fawn Snowflakes
White Embossing Powder

Blog Anniversary

Today, September 15, 2014 is my 2 year blog-anniversary. I am so enjoying making cards and sharing them.

I also am so thankful for the blogging friends I have made these past two years. You are all kind, talented, and absolutely wonderful! Thank you for your support, visits and kind comments!

To celebrate, I have made two cards for you my visitiors...and I will have a little give away of some crafty items as well, just leave a comment by Thursday 9-25 at 11:59 pm edt telling me how long you have been crafting---and what your crafting start was.

A winner will be announced Friday September 26th, 2014.

I used the Hero Arts Etched Flowers stamp for the main image for both cards.  I used distress markers and Canson 140 cold press water color paper for the image. On each panel I colored the stamp and then stamped it. Next I softened it by adding water with a brush.  I wanted a soft feeling to the image. The second card, uses only the large flower image from the stamp, stamped repeatedly.

The first card is mounted on SU and Bazzill card stocks, the MFT sentiment is heat embossed with HA embossing powder, and a bit of DMC floss for the bow.

The second card is overlaid with vellum mounted on a Hero Arts card base that was heat embossed with gold thin strips from Stampendous.  The sentiment is from SU, the pearls are from Martha Stewart. The gold string, is on an unmarked spool.

Both of these panels were made while Hubs and I were in Maine for a week. He had a seminar to attend and we flew up a few days early to play tourist. We did some sight seeing, and I will leave you with a picture of some of my favorite trip images.

Thanks so much for stopping by, have a wonderful week!

Thanks a milliion

A few weeks ago I hopped along on the new release blog hop over at Newton's Nook Designs.  Much to my surprise, I was a winner of a great stamp set called Simply Sentimental.  I have two other stamp sets from Newton's Nook, so I thought I would make a card featuring their stamps as a thank-you for the prize. The flower basket comes from the Basket of Wishes set.

 

I stamped the basket on watercolor paper, and colored with distress markers.Then I added just a touch of wink of stella to the flowers.  The sentiment was stamped and white heat embossed.  Three tiny (2mm) clear/silver sequins were added. I loved the long tail on the sentiment, and decided to "hang" the basket from it using white embroidery thread.

Thanks so much for stopping by and enjoy your weekend.

Thanks

This is my second post today, scroll down for my Day 9 homework. Thanks for an amazing two weeks of class, Online Card Classes.  This was so enjoyable and I learned fun things.  My day 10 and  last card is my take on a card presented by Laurie Wilson. She had some background tone on tone stamping and then stamping on white mounted onto fun foam. She did this with letter die cuts.  I have no fun foam, and I really did not want to cut stacks and stacks of individual letters to gain the height. So I went another route with this idea as my jumping off point.

I had a heck of a time with the tone on tone stamping and after ruining 3 card bases, I decided on another route.  I just stamped the Paper Smooches Botanicals 2 stamp on white card, die cut several of the Simon Says Stamp Diamond Parade in white, and one out of the stamped white card.

I stacked the die cuts pairing the stamped insides with the white outline.  I like the contrast the white outline provides.  I added a Thanks die (also from SSS) stacked and offset just a bit on top of the diamonds.  The ink is from Hero Arts - Cup O Joe as is the note card.

Thanks for stopping by.

Thank you

Its going to be a 3 post Sunday...only because I am up so late Saturday night that it has turned into Sunday morning by the time I get these cards done.  So here is my Day 5 card, a complete CASE of Shari Carroll's card.  (Her artistic vision is so Awesome!)

When I was downloading the PDF for the class before watching the videos, the photo of her card really grabbed me.  I had to try it.

The stamps we are stretching for Lessons 5 and 6 are outline stamps.  Shari gave us a method of adding some wonderful dimension to flower stamps through paper piecing.

I used the Clearly Besotted Stamp set Fresh Flowers, and a sentiment from Avery Elle's Oh Happy Day set. My patterned paper was a left over scrap. Coloring was done with Derwent Intense pencils. Pearls are from Stampin up, and I used Smokey Grey ink from Versafine for the sentiment.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Reverse Background

Another card from Day 1 of class.  Believe it or not I started with 2 4x6 pieces of background stamped paper.  After all my fussing and fiddling...I had this much left.  Shari Carroll makes it look so easy.  IT IS NOT! That's why her cards are so eye-catching. They look simple and just tossed together, easy breezy...but that lady puts a lot of thought into placement. I am even more in awe than before.

Though this did not match the idea in my head...I am feeling it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Simple Thanks

 

Hi, it has been a busy summer so far with traveling and projects.  I made 31 cards in July...thanks mostly to card kits by Simon Says Stamp.  Now I am all caught up with the kits I had and won't have another for a while. 

I had time and decided to get some challenge cards made. It has been a while since I played along with Freshly Made sketches. 


When I saw the sketch, I  knew immediately what  I wanted to do.  My final card is pretty close to what was in my head so I am pleased with this simple card.

Now if I could just find a friend with a beach house to stay at --  this card would be the perfect thanks. (wink)

 

I skipped one layer, because I wanted to maintain an organic beach-y feel. The Kraft card reminds me of sand here.  I water-colored a piece of watercolor paper with Koi watercolors.

After it dried, I white heat embossed the shells from the Stampin Up By the Tide stamp set.  I cut the piece into three strips and atached them to the card front.

Next I added some white string and a softly glittered white shell brad from Michaels.  The thanks die cut is double stacked and from Simon Says Stamp.


Thanks for stopping by!

Thank You Flowers

I have been wanting this die from Simon Says Stamp for a while now, and I saw it being used beautifully lately at Lin's blog here and here.

Seeing her gorgeous cards, so beautifully designed really increased my desire to get the die ordered.  It arrived this week, and I put it to use making this thank you card.



I am entering this into Virginia's View Challenge #5.

I colored the petals with Copics, then added a bit of clear Wink of Stella. The center gems are from Queen and Co, they are kind of checkerboard cut and I thought they would make perfect flower centers.  My sentiment is also from Simon Says Stamp. I have layered a piece of yellow cardstock between the front panel and the card base so that the yellow hue shows behind the petals.

Thank you for stopping by!

Thank you

A quick card share here. A thank you card which I am entering in the second challenge over at Virginia's View. We were given a insipration photo and an instruction to use stenciling.

I was inspired by the upper left photo, I liked the white images on the colored circles.

I decided to ink a panel in colors you might expect the main image to take, green for grass, blue sky and yellow flowers, then I spread embossing paste through a stencil onto that inked panel. I added a greeting in black ink and mounted the card on a yellow card base. Of course I had to add some distress clear rock candy glitter to the wet embossing paste...I am addicted to that stuff.

Thanks for stopping by!

Navy and Teal

Saturday, I was able to play in my favorite Scramble over at the Hero Arts Flickr group. Debbie gave us a challenge to use only Navy and Teal including any embellishments, inks, papers etc in addition to neutrals White, Kraft and Black. The usual 90 minutes to create, photograph and upload to the group.

I am getting slower and slower at these, I seem to take almost the whole time with 1 card, while a few other ladies seem to get 2 or more done.

Supplies: Stampin Up -Designer Series Paper, Cardstock, Ruffle Ribbon all in Coastal Cabana
Hero Arts-Navy Shadow Ink, Mint Julep Shadow Ink, Pearls and Gems-Sea Mixed, Tall Flowers, Messages with Flourish, Envelope Liner Stamp, white embossing powder
Versamark Ink

Thanks for stopping by!

Tele-Crafting

I started crafting as a scrap book maker, and added card making about 3 years ago. One of the things I miss terribly about not living in California anymore is my monthly Scrap Night with my girlfriend.  We would meet at an LSS that was equidistant between our homes and scrapbook. It never was necessarily a chatty night, but one of companionship and shared interests without interruptions.

Friday night, I got a text from her, and she was at the LSS scrap-booking by herself. She had sent me pictures of her first layout.  Hubs was working, and I wanted to play with one of the Simon Says Card Kits that hadn't been used much.  So I went to it.  We kept in touch by phone and text- sending pictures back and forth for about  3 and a half hours. It was almost like having a scrap night again. I had such a good time.

Here are my cards for the night. All materials used are from the February 2014 Simon Says Stamp Card Kit. I also used Versamark, white embossing powder, 1 scrap of pink cs, some sequins, and some Hero Arts shadow ink in Bubblegum and Distress Inks in Worn Lipstick, Spiced Marmelade, and Peeled Paint and 1 extra sheet of Neenah Aspen White cardstock for a card base.

Thanks for stopping by!